To Quote or Not To QuoteQ: When should you use a quotation?A: If you use an author's specific word or words, you must place those words within quotation marks and credit the source with a footnote or endnote.Q: How do I know when to use a quotation, or if I should just paraphrase?A: Generally, you only use quotation when the author says something in a unique, interesting, or important way. A quotation should be quotable; that is, notable or memorable. For instance, when Abraham Lincoln coined the phrase "a new birth of freedom" in the Gettysburg Address, it encapsulated the meaning of the speech in a very memorable way. If you are making a point that is considered general or common knowledge, then you don't really need a quotation. (General common knowledge is factual information considered to be in the public domain, such as birth and death dates of well-known figures, and generally accepted dates of military, political, literary, and other historical events. In general, factual information contained in multiple standard reference works can usually be considered to be in the public domain.)In short, choose quotations carefully. Pick ones that help make your argument in a direct, meaningful way. However, keep in mind that you will still have to explain or elaborate upon the ones you choose -- don't assume their meaning is self-evident to thereader.Q: How do I place quotations within my paper?A: You have to frame a quotation properly, not just stick it in without any attribution, introduction, or explanation. When you do this, you make what is called a "quotation island." (Notice how I framed the quotation here.) Just like "no man is an island," no quotation is an island either. Therefore, you must integrate the quotation into the sentence seamlessly. A good, general formula to follow is: Introduce, Quote, Explain (IQE).Ex.In his first Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln called secession "the essence of anarchy." By doing so, he demonstrated his belief that it was unconstitutional."What is the Fourth of July to a Slave?" asked Frederick Douglass to a crowd gathered to celebrate America's independence in 1852. The title of the speech was meant to be ironic, as Douglass outlined the hypocrisy of a holiday that celebrated freedom in a country where slavery existed.Ambrose Bierce described the call of battle to be as alluring as "the kisses of a beautifulwoman." By comparing the call of the battle to a woman's allure, Bierce revealed the romantic notions of war held by many new recruits.Q: When do I use a block quotation?A: You only block a quotation (separate, indented lines) that is longer than three or four full lines of text. Use block quotations sparingly as they disrupt the flow of the text as well as your prose, especially if you are writing a shortish paper (less than 10 pages). Typically, readers skip over block quotations anyway, so why bother unless it's really, really crucial to the point you're trying to make, in which case you will have to spend a fair amount of space analyzing the quotation.Exercise: (1) As you read the essays for Friday (Weston, Seabrook, & Shulevitz), highlight quotations the authors use from other sources to help illustrate their arguments. Notice how they integrate these quotations into the surrounding text. Do they use the IQE method described above? If not, what do you notice about how they frame the quotations they use? Do they use quotations effectively?(2) Write a brief (no more than a paragraph) response to the following questions using a quotation from each author and integrate it into your answer using the IQE method:A. (Weston) How do gay families challenge traditional ideas about what a family is?B. (Seabrook) What impact has DNA testing had on genealogical research?C. (Shulevitz) Can trauma be inherited?Bring your short responses to class on Friday. These will count as your